


Love and Cherish

by little0bird



Series: When Jack's Heart Stopped [9]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Bittle/Zimmerman Wedding, Bitty speaks French, Check Please - Freeform, M/M, Omgcheckplease - Freeform, Post-Sticks and Scones, zimbits - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:34:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23626969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/little0bird/pseuds/little0bird
Summary: Bitty has a surprise for Jack on their wedding day.
Relationships: Eric "Bitty" Bittle/Jack Zimmermann
Series: When Jack's Heart Stopped [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1344745
Comments: 5
Kudos: 173





	Love and Cherish

It was a glorious summer day, the kind Jack had loved as a child. Clear, bright sunshine, billowing puffy clouds, and the glint of dragonflies darting in and out of the hydrangeas that bordered the garden. They had meant to have a smaller wedding, but between their families, the Falcons, and the Samwell team, it had ballooned somewhat to well over 150 guests. ‘You ready for this?’ Shitty slapped him on the back as the strolled by.

‘Been ready,’ Jack replied. He’d known for what seemed like years. That Fourth of July sitting in the middle of the field, watching fireworks from the back of Rick’s pickup. The first meal Bitty cooked in their apartment, back when their relationship was a carefully guarded secret. The way Bits had soothed his fears and anxieties about the Stanley Cup. Knowing that if he quit playing hockey tomorrow, and started teaching history, Bitty would still love him. He’d started looking for rings then, telling himself he was only looking. He was still telling himself he was only looking when he handed his credit card to the salesperson in the small jewellers shop in Providence. He’d hidden the ring deep in the recesses of his sock drawer. He’d tucked it into his bag when he went to Madison at Christmas, but the time was never right. He thought perhaps after Christmas, but Bitty needed to write his thesis. Then Samwell kept winning, and Jack hadn’t wanted to intrude on the euphoria of the team winning the championship.

And the ring stayed in his pocket, waiting for the right moment to present itself.

Of course it had been on the ice at Farber. It was where it had all started.

Bob and Alicia approached. ‘Nervous?’ Bob asked.

Jack grinned. ‘No.’ If he was honest with himself, Jack was slightly surprised to find that, despite the hordes of people there, his natural reticence and anxieties, he wasn't the slightest bit nervous. This was like skating with Bitty on his line, only now they would do it for the rest of their lives.

‘Well then, shall we?’ Alicia held up her wrist. It was two o’clock. Bitty was probably bouncing on the balls of his feet, impatient to start the event. She signalled to the coordinator, who then nodded to the string quartet.

Shitty held out his arm to Lardo, and they all but sauntered down the aisle to where a judge waited under an arch covered with ivy.

Jack threw an arm around Bob’s shoulder, and then swiftly brushed a kiss over Alicia’s cheek. ‘Let’s do this, eh?’ They followed Lardo and Shitty to the arch, then Jack turned expectantly, waiting for Bitty.

Bitty appeared between Rick and Suzanne, his blinding smile rivalling the sun itself. Everything else faded, and memories shuffled through Jack’s memory, rather like the presentation of his photography portfolio. Checking practice. Haus parties. Bitty’s incessant singing. The baking. Señor Bun. Roadies. Their first kiss. Kissing him on center ice during the Cup celly. Jack’s smile widened and softened when Bitty’s hand slipped into his.

The judge began to speak, but Jack heard none of it.

Bitty figure skating, bathed in the afternoon sunlight of Farber. Baking pies together in the Haus kitchen. Surprising Bitty with a new stove when Betsy died. Seeing Bitty speak at Class Day.

Jack never thought he’d love anyone or anything as much as he did hockey. Until the day one Eric Richard Bittle blew like a hurricane into his life.

‘Jack…?’ Shitty poked him in the back.

‘Hah?’

Shitty jerked his head toward the judge, who smiled indulgently. ‘Repeat after me,’ she prompted. ‘I, Jacques Laurent…’

‘I, Jacques Laurent, take you, Eric Richard, to by my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; til death separates us.’

The judge turned to Bitty. ‘Eric, repeat after me.’ Jack almost snickered. Nobody called Bitty, “Eric.” Not even his parents. ‘I, Eric Richard…’

Bitty frowned slightly, and Jack’s smile dimmed a little. Bitty blinked, and his frown deepened, until he heard Lardo whisper something indistinct. The confusion cleared and Bitty began to speak in slow, careful, albeit atrociously accented, French. ‘Moi, Eric Richard, je te prend Jacques Laurent, pour être mon mari, pour avoir et tenir de ce jour vers l’avant, pour meilleur ou pour le pire, pour la prospérité et la pauvreté, dans la maladie et dans la santé, pour aimer et chérir; jusqu’à la mort nous sépare.’ Bitty reached up and used the tip of his index finger to gently close Jack’s mouth. _When had he learned the vows in French, and who taught him?_ Jack shot a look at his father, the most likely culprit. Bob deliberately winked.

It was only later, after the ceremony, the flurry of activity in taking photos, the speeches, the toasts, and the endless stream of conversation with their parents, Shitty, Lardo, and everyone who stopped by their table, that Jack was able to have any sort of conversation with Bitty. It was ironically the middle of the dance floor, which was the most privacy they’d had all week. The strains of “Moonlight Serenade” enveloped them as Jack pulled Bitty close. ‘So, when did you learn the vows in French?’ Jack murmured.

Bitty’s head tilted to the side, and he gave Jack a smug grin. ‘Since we set the date.’ He drew closer to Jack and tucked his head under Jack’s chin. ‘I called your dad while you were on a roadie. He recorded it and wrote it out phonetically and then emailed it to me. I even made flash cards.’ His grin took on a sly edge. ‘Didn’t get the same reward as when you helped me study for my French class.’ One hand slid over Jack’s shoulder. ‘But I guess I’ll get that later.’ Jack laughed and his arms tightened around Bitty. ‘And Bob would call me while you were on roadies and listen to me practice it.’

Jack brought up a hand and cupped Bitty’s face. ‘Why, though?’

Bitty turned his head and pressed a kiss on Jack’s palm. ‘You gave me free rein with the wedding. All you asked was that we didn’t write our own vows. The rest of the details didn’t matter to you. You just wanted to know when and where to show up.’ Bitty’s gentle smile took the sting from his words. ‘I wanted to make it special for you.’

**Author's Note:**

> Despite being Canadian, I am not fluent in French. I found the vows on a website that had a French translation of the vows from a pastor in New Brunswick. 
> 
> If it's not quite right, please let me know, and I will fix it!


End file.
